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Apartment hunting in Paris

Three friends and I are planning a late spring trip to Paris. We would like to rent an apartment;but, with the new rules is that still an option? Can anyone recommend a service or site from which we can safely rent?
Thank you.

We all knew deep down in our hearts that something had to give...the city officials simply couldn't continue to be as unjust, unfair and nonsensical as it has been regarding their policy on short-term apartment rentals. Since November of 2009, when the laws on the books first came to light, when the housing department began to follow up on denouncements by neighbors and then take on the full-blown campaign waging war against innocent homeowners, we have prayed for some light at the end of the long, dark tunnel that seemingly led to nowhere.

Personally I have been seriously affected, having sold two treasured properties that took a lot of time, money, effort and heart to create and manage as a result of being 'discovered' by the team of 20 people Madame le Maire Hidalgo appointed to ferret out offenders -- one of which was meant for my retirement...and now long gone. In addition, our property owners, the foreign buyers who have a deep love and appreciation of Paris and France, who invested their hard-earned bucks in a "pied-à-terre" they could enjoy themselves and rent when available, had their 'hands bitten' by the very city they fed.

The anger has not sat well with me, nor with the thousands of others like me for whom this has negatively affected. Now, finally, there seems to be light at the end of this tunnel.

If you are not aware of the challenge we have faced, let me refresh your memory or put it in simple terms. According to the current regulations, a primary residence can be legally rented short-term up to four months a year in total. A property holding 'commercial usage designation' can be legally rented any duration. A secondary property can legally be rented one year or nine months to a student, but no less of a lease is legal.

I've written about this extensively in our Nouvellettres® and long ago posted a petition to submit to Madame Hidalgo.

The regulations mean that as a tenant, if you want to live in Paris less than one year, you were not entitled to housing. That goes for the thousands of individuals who come here for work or education and those who need temporary housing of any sort. They are virtually relegated to a hotel or commercial property. One is entitled to stay in France 90 days with no visa, but with nowhere to live except outside the city limits or accommodations unfit for long-term housing.

This also means that suddenly all of those earnest investors and property owners are operating illegally and have to make certain choices: 1) continue doing what they were doing until caught; 2) stop renting their property at a loss of revenue which covers the operating costs; 3) obtain commercial usage designation for their property (near to impossible to achieve) plus pay the city heavy licensing fees or 4) sell their property.

As a renter of short-term properties for vacation or otherwise, your choices became more limited as legitimate professionally managed properties came off the market while more and more owners offered their own unprofessional principal residences for short-term rental. Airbnb boombed while long standing rental agencies suffered (such as ours, Parler Paris Apartments and our partner site, Paris Sharing).

I am familiar with one agency in Paris -- one of the first to offer luxury rentals as long ago as 1998, fully licensed by the city to operate, a company which collected and paid all its taxes and was forced out of business by the city. City agents knocked on the doors of the apartments and harassed the innocent and unsuspecting renters. The company had to sell off all their properties, mostly located on the two islands in the Seine, shut down its operations and move to another country to operate -- where they found success. The properties that the company sold off naturally became short-term rentals...illegal ones, of course.

After six years of living this 'hell,' this past week we received an unofficial notice from a member of the SPLM -- the Syndicat des Professionnels de la Location Meublée -- a lobbying organization that was formed in 2009 to combat the unfair regulations, that in June of this year the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls ordered a study by the Inspection Générale des Finances (IGF), an interdepartemental auditing and supervisory body in France.

You can follow the progress of the study on the official Web site.

In summary, the first study concluded that:

a) The demand for short to medium term furnished rentals exists and is legitimate

b) No such offerings are possible within the current legal framework

c) The short-term rental of "résidences secondaires" (whether the owner is Parisian or not) would help to satisfy that legitimate demand, without taking housing off the market for long-term rental (which by definition cannot take place in résidences secondaires).

The recommendation of the IGF is to create a new lease called "Location Temporaire" that would be valid for rental durations of one week to six months, for example. They estimate that some 7,600 apartments would be concerned (on top of the "résidences principales" in which up to four months of short-term rental is already allowed -- a figure not high enough to impact long-term housing.

As a counter-measure, they propose to eliminate the furnished rental "niches fiscales" (i.e. amortization and micro-BIC régime).

Conclusions to the study are expected in late January. We are all hoping and praying for positive results. For me, personally, it's too late. I fed the city with my own efforts and have been personally and directly responsible for bringing in hundreds of millions of euros into the city's economy thanks to the hundreds of clients with whom we have worked since 2002 to help them purchase and maintain a property in Paris for their own pleasure and profit. Then, the city of Paris bit my hand.

If the study can evoke an amendment to the regulations that will be fair and equitable to everyone, then these past six unjust years can be forgiven and everyone can breathe deep and take in the fresh air. Potential investors can feel safe again to show Paris how much we all love the city.

Let's face it, it's tough not to love Paris, in spite of a few ignorant (and thankfully temporary) politicians.

If the study can evoke an amendment to the regulations that will be fair and equitable to everyone, then these past six unjust years can be forgiven and everyone can breathe deep and take in the fresh air.

Fair and equitable to everyone as long as everyone a wealthy foreigner who purchases an apartment from a local resident, subdivides it, and sees monthly investment revenues increase four to six times from where they were when a French citizen lived there.

Yes, the French; those inconsiderate souls who take issue when vacationing foreigners invade their buildings. You are absolutely right, many of these illegal landlords have faced enforcement from the mayor´s office. But many, if not most, of the complaints the mayor´s office receives about illegal rental activity are from angry citizens, you know those people who actually live, work, pay taxes and vote, who don´t want their homes, their buildings and their neighborhoods turned into come-and-go housing for wealthy foreigners.

The problem is so acute that is the French government that tightened laws against short term apartment rentals, not the city of Paris. Imagine legislation in the US, sponsored by wealthy foreigners, which attempts to promote foreign interests over that of the citizenry.

I maintain a house in the US in a city that absolutely forbids any and all short term rental activity. It is even illegal to rent to a student who attends the university only three blocks away. The French should stop pandering to special foreign interests and tighten ALUR, the law against vacation apartments, to include penalties for agencies who knowingly rent illegal apartments.

Is it any wonder Adrian Leeds espouses the view expressed in Parler Paris? If anyone ever benefited hugely from illegal rentals, it was she. It's all well and good that short-term rentals have a dream of "living like a local," but it has been and remains to be at the expense of Parisians themselves.

Get yourself a completely legal apart-hotel and let Adrian Leeds sort out her own mess.

Isn't Paris Perfect also legit? I haven't rented from them myself, but they're very open about what they do and they seem to be above board. OTOH, they say nothing about these specific regs in the FAQ and they do have a page on their website reaching out to owners who'd like to join the PP "family."

No ax to grind, just curious, as they do have some fans here on Fodors (or did, anyway).

Vacationinparis has some great deals right now. It was easy because they are in NJ. We did a last minute trip in Oct and called them and they found us a place to stay. We loved it even though it was the 14th. I would stay there again. Just don't answer your door. I read that is what airbnb were telling their clients.

That doesn't sound too relaxing, though, does it? "Just don't answer your door." It would make me edgy the whole time I was indoors, I think.

Does all of this boil down to tourists never being able to rent a real Paris apartment again? It's Citadines or a hotel? (I am by no means a "wealthy" tourist; the types of places I have stayed in were simple and budget-y, and I have to scrimp to afford to go at all.)

I would miss having the freedom of a flat; it might make me choose other destinations.

Of course, I see that it is better for the people who actually live there, and no, I don't expect them to sacrifice a decent place to live so tourists like me can pretend for a while....

It appears I may have missed the point here. It's become very confusing the more I search on it. I have an apartment rented for next October for 9 days and on deposit through VRBO. The apartment owner is in the US and has owned the apartment for about 10 years. His intention is for rental purposes and not truly his residence (except on occasion when he visits Paris himself) I rented this apartment in early 2014 without any problems. Everything is being done through the VRBO website including payment. Is this type of situation what is "illegal" now? Should I be concerned?

As noted, VRBO is just a referral service, not the owners of apartments. If you are concerned about the legality of your rental, and you should be, you should contact the owner and get his/her assurance that he/she is in compliance with ALUR.

I'd rather believe some French sites than one from a US lady living from rentals that she herself says are illegal. I seem to recall that she made sign contract for one year then would tear them up after one month, I may not be remembering correctly - somebody has a better memory than me ?

'Parler Paris' - is it supposed to sound french ?
I went onto this site - there is not even a french translation or is there ?

Ah : now I get it : it is not for me :

'Adrian Leeds Group® provides comprehensive property services for Anglophones who desire to live, work or invest in France.'

Parler Paris is supposed to sound French but it is a very odd phrase. I guess we are supposed to cry tears over this person who lost their cushy illegal rental business, and has just been living in "hell", investing and buying up properties in Paris to rent out to tourists. Makes as much sense to feel sorry for any criminal who lost some lucrative business.

If you are concerned, you need to ask the owner, obviously, that property described from VRBO does sound illegal if it is mainly used for vacation rentals. Doing something through VRBO or not is irrelevant in terms of its legality, nor that there were no problems 5 years ago. IN fact, most illegal rentals won't have problems, they can't crack down or know about them everywhere that easily.

The idea that one cannot vacation or visit cities and enjoy them unless one rents an apt. is ridiculous.

While I love Paris, and we regularly return, I wouldn't hesitate to simply transfer my vacations to other French towns and cities under 200,000. I certainly won't stay at any hotels in Paris, given the price point and amenities available. I also don't believe Paris officials concern themselves with tourists from an apartment rental standpoint.

We'll have to see if it has the impact to total tourism numbers for Paris if it continues. The Mairie could eliminate the concern and confusion by publishing a list of approved apartments, or give license numbers and the ability to cross check an apartment with its' license number that is advertised on the web. The tourist information center gives all kinds of helpful advice for tourists, I can see that office being specifically helpful in calming fears of renters seeking a short term, legal rental.

This has been repeated ad infinitum on Fodor's, TripAdvisor, Rick Steves and all other travel forums - but here it is again:

Any agency that lists property for short term rental and manages the property from another country or wherever the property is actually located, is legal - as long as the agency has formed a corporation and pays appropriate taxes in the country where it accept payment. Listing property for rent on the internet or by any other means for any period of time is not illegal.

What is illegal in Paris (and many more cities), is this:

If the property owner lives full-time in his Paris apartment, he may not rent more than 4 months per year,which is equivalent to his vacation time. The owner is expected to declare and pay taxes on all revenue collected from rentals.

If no resident lives in the property full-time, if the property is only managed by an agency which only rents to tourists who do not live on the premises for at least one year, if the regulations of the building's co-propriete prohibit sub-leases, if a full-time rental tenant subleases without permission from his landlord - this is illegal in Paris.

There are only approximately 600 legal short-term rentals available in Paris. Most of these are in neighborhoods which would not be attractive to the average tourists, or are modern mixed-income housing, converted doctor's offices or other businesses, sometimes located on the ground floor. Many do not contain the "usual tourist necessities or conveniences", and many are not near the usual attractions visitors come to see.

A lot of people recommend places or agencies they have used before in Paris. It should be apparent to most of you reading this that this does not mean they are legal, but are just thinly-disguised attempts at advertising.

At this point, the only legal rentals in Paris - besides the 600 I mentioned earlier - are those rented by bona fide permanent residents (who can prove they have a deed to the property and live there full time), and bona fide "apart'hotels" such as Citadines and Adagio. You should avoid a listing which does not feature a 24/7 front desk service, which looks as if nobody lives there, and whose owner accepts all or part of the rental fees in cash.

So why doesn't the city of Paris maintain a listing so potential renters would know if an apartment is legal or not? How is the average person supposed to ferret this out? IVe been in Paris these last weeks and the absence of tourists due to the recent attacks is noticeable. Business must be down everywhere I would guess. I wonder if they really enforce this law whether in the long term tourism would be negatively impacted? So many people now stay longer term and that is not feasible in a hotel room. I hope the city can figure this out.

Fuzzbucket, as near as I can remember, prior to your time pontificating here, you spent quite a lot of time pontificating on TA. When there, you told of how you used to rent your Paris apartment. Was that before or after your career writing fake reviews? I forget. At any rate, weren't apartment rentals illegal then as well?

You know, I don't mind Sarastro taking a strong and vocal position against rentals. At least he's not a hypocrite as you and St. Cirq are.

Hi there! Sorry if I'm intruding. I saw the question posted and just skimmed through the replies.

I've used VBRO four times in the last two years and have been extremely happy with it. We used it in Paris in the 6th not too long ago for two weeks. We had a great time (before the tragedy). There were three of us (Husband, Daughter and myself). My husband and I had the bedroom and my daughter used the fold out couch in the living room. It was great! It was on the 4nd floor but it had a lift. The kitchen was great to have! We have decided to always rent when we travel to Paris (our next trip will 4th time for us). It was quite a bit more affordable than a hotel which is what we had done the previous three times and we had quite a bit more space. We saved on meals too as we dined in a couple of times when exhausted from walking.

FYI, Happygoin, the only rental I have ever made in a gazillion years of visiting Paris is an apartment in the 20th of a personal friend of mine, and I use it, never for more than a week, when he's legitimately on vacation. How you think you know my apartment rental history is beyond me. For the first 30 years of my visits to Paris I stayed exclusively in hotels. Once and once only, before all this apartment hullabaloo came to light, we stayed in an AirBnB apartment where the owner was in residence - never again.

So yes, I remain on the side of the righteous, if that's how you care to call it. But don't pretend to know my rental history.

I have always been astounded at the personal attacks on this forum. Dialogue should be open and allow people with opinions on both sides of an argument to present their points without being personally attacked. Frankly, I thought it refreshing to hear the other side of the story to the one that is constantly pounded in here.

I can see valid points on both sides of the argument. With tourism such a large part of the Parisian economy, I also think that there will be a nosedive in tourism if apartment rentals of a week or two to tourists are virtually eliminated. And, no, to me a concept like Citadines is not a real apartment.

Question for fuzzbucket: "You should avoid a listing which does not feature a 24/7 front desk service." Why in the world does someone who wants an apartment need front desk service? That is a characteristic of a hotel not an apartment. Most B&Bs don't provide this either.

There are opinions and there are laws. I also prefer to stay in a flat if I'm in a city for more than a couple of days. Of course you can book through any of the sites mentioned here. The agencies are all 'legit'. But the apartments they are letting are probably not. If you still want to book one, go ahead, but beware of the potential problems.

There was plenty of tourism before the 'living like a local' thing started.

Paris and it's inhabitants must decide this. The city doesn't exist for tourists.

There are also US cities that have banned short-term lets, for much the same reasons as in Paris.

Question for fuzzbucket: "You should avoid a listing which does not feature a 24/7 front desk service." Why in the world does someone who wants an apartment need front desk service? That is a characteristic of a hotel not an apartment. Most B&Bs don't provide this either.

I'm not Fuzz, but I'll give some insights :
- because it helps when you arrive at 11pm.
I stayed at an appt in the 18th which has a front desk but it closes at 8 pm. So I got a SMS telling me where the key would be : under the mat (true) - since I was searching at the wrong landing, I nearly destroyed all the mats I saw;
- because this frontdesk is equipped with printer and can make an invoice - for a lot of tourists, getting an invoice is not a problem, for me it is a must. I once went to a B&B in Paris, sleeping in a room with the owner in the next, and I got the invoice nr2 of the year. It was july. I'm sure the guys declare all his revenues to the fisc.
- because it gives the impression that the location is legit : if you have a frontdesk, you are in the open, and you have to pay the guy who is there. Hence you must declare revenues to pay the guy.

Face it - most of the rentals are illegal. Whether you care or not is not important, some tourists declare that they have the right to do what they want. Some renters too.
Whether your appartment is still operating or closed by the authorities when you arrive should be a question you have to ask yourself.

As a footnote, I'm disgusted at the level of personal attacks that one can see here. But at least, contrary to TA, posts tend to stay so everyone can make an opinion of the poster.

janisj, St. Cirq goes back a long way on TA. Both she and Fuzzbucket divulged the information I posted here themselves. It's not heresay and they're not personal attacks if they're true, which they are.

Hypocrisy in any form is abhorrent, but especially the self-righteous kind.

HappyGoin, I have reported your remarks as personal attacks, not only because I find them offensive, but because you have a propensity for not adding anything useful to a conversation about which you know very little. I don't pontificate, though I do admit to being a very fast typist which allows me to get in a lot of information.

Whatever is behind this self-righteous outrage - you were banned from TA as well - won't fly on this forum. Personally vindictive comments are not welcome here. You have never offered any information to add that does not reflect your personal bias on the subject of apartment rentals. You have no facts to add to the conversation, as those of us who live in Paris do, though you rely on your friends who own rental property or occasionally visit here. One of your friends demanded that I defend my work history and my life - to my credit, I responded honestly. The many people who own illegal rentals in Paris, as well as their friends who "help" advertise for them, have not admitted they do so.

I know many of your friends - and know a witch hunt when I see it. It is interesting to see who you do not attack, when some of us repeat the same information. I respectfully suggest that you and your pals find some other way to amuse yourselves.

Back to reality - yesterday, my computer went down before I could add the rest of my comments about what constitutes a legal apartment in Paris:

As I said, listing agencies are not breaking the law by advertising apartments for rent, as long as they pay taxes and city lodging fees.

The clients who rent apartments which do not comply with the new laws in Paris are breaking the law, whether they are aware of the changes in the laws or whether they care or not.
However, clients who rent illegal apartments will not be prosecuted or evicted. It is up to them to decide how they feel about making a moral decision based on the fact that "everybody else does it and I don't know anybody who's been caught yet."

The people who are prosecuted are tenants who sublease without the permission or knowledge of their landlords, as well as the property owners who continue to list apartments which do not comply with the new laws, who accept all or a portion of the rental fee in cash, and who do not pay taxes or city fees in the city where their rental property is located.

Tenants who sublease without permission face eviction, and their "tenants" must leave as well. Property owners are given the chance to stop renting and comply with the new law, but if they continue to rent, are issued significant fines (per day, per rental unit), and may face further penalties.

There is no list of legal rentals, and there is much confusion due to lobbying groups claiming to be working with the city to solve the housing problems. The Mayor's Office is busy trying to compile dossiers on absentee property owners and other fiscal refugees. This takes time, and that's why it will be a long time before a list might become available.

The reason I suggested people look for apart'hotels with 24/7 front desk service is because this means it is a legitimate rental. A large number of illegal rentals are now using the term "apart'hotel" or "on call concierge service" - pretty easy to recognize them, since it's obvious that nobody lives in these apartments. You don't need to use the front desk services unless you want to.
ParisWat's observations were also correct. It's no fun finding out when you arrive that you cannot access your apartment, when you're dead tired and must haul your luggage around for a few hours while trying to eat a sandwich because you don't want to eat in a decent restaurant before you can take a shower.

Citadines and Adagio are clean, basic hotel rooms with a little more space and kitchen facilities, and most of them are located in very convenient and charming neighborhoods. A handful of other charming, legal apart'hotels do exist in Paris. Many people just need a place to relax and a refrigerator, and there are many of those available in budget and moderately-priced hotels in Paris.

Depending on the day the survey is taken, Paris is either the Number One tourist destination or certainly within the Top Three places everyone hopes to visit. If you decide that the ban on short-term vacation rentals in Paris doesn't jibe with your idea of a nice vacation, someone else will be glad to spend the money you won't.

Short-term and vacation rentals worldwide are problematic. It will take time for this "sharing" economy to settle down. In the meantime, it's your choice to either obey the law or not, and take your chances about what kind of vacation you'd like to plan in Paris.

NewbE
You are not differentiating between rudeness sarcasm and personal attack.

The poster who digs sh!t and throws it on the forum with no regards to the thread but in an attempt to discredit and insult somebody may very well do it politely but will behave like a frustrated despicable b... person.

Her post is just mean and is a personal attack.

When we discuss like nearly normal people and don't share at all the same views we react about what is being said and there is always a level of restraint and of respect that will prevent us to resorting to such foul behavior.

Now you also confuse rudeness with bluntness and sarcasm if you refer to me at least.
I expressly try to remain polite but love to be quite blunt. I am despite being a smart tall and gorgeous tall actor (err) at a slight disadvantage since I have to use a bloody foreign language not as suitably organized to sarcasm s French is. After all the English Kings had to import massively words of French to bring some culture in their language.

So don't think I am being rude when I can't get over subtleties due to my using a second grade language.

Ah semantic again : I wrote the post behaves like ... When I should have said IS in this specific case.
No need to take gloves with such people.

For some people they may be just be learning about the legality issues of Paris apts. What is too bad is that some of these posts on Paris apts do contain helpful info for a tourist trying to figure out what to do and what may or may not be legal. I would imagine that most posters esp first timers will not bother to read thru all the insults both about other posters and tourists themselves to get to those specks of helpful & correct info. And being self righteous really adds nothing of value to someone sorting through all this.

Those of us who post information about the rental situation which we know to be true, are simply trying to present the other side of the coin.

There's a whole lot of information to wade through, and it's hard to make sense of it unless you have access to all the information at one time, and not just snippets and sound-bites.

Unfortunately, reporting accurate information has a negative impact on people who make money from rental apartments in Paris. There are people who specialize in derailing these threads, trying to discredit the posters and relaying hearsay, just so they and their friends won't lose rental income.

janisj, asking Fodor's to get involved in these petty spats is the height of childishness. And actually, they seem to have deleted one post, and not the one being called a "personal attack".

pariswat, surely you are aware that bluntness and sarcasm are considered rude by many people. My point, however, is be blunt! Be sarcastic! Why not write what you want to write on an anonymous public forum? I enjoy your posts because you have your own voice; whether I agree with or like your opinions is a separate issue, but not one that I need to ask the moderators for help with.

Those who find a post rude are free to ignore it, after all.

What I object to is the exaggerated outrage and calls for deletions--again, so childish! Sticks and stones...

Have you tried onefinestay apt rentals? I have no clue where they stand in relation to the discussion above - I think they are homes that are rented when the owner is not there. But I know they are vetted apartments with 24/7 support and you get a local iphone. Can be a bit pricier but you might give them a try. They have a US office and also local ones...good luck and have fun!

That would be moi. And guess what? It doesn't matter one bit. The important bits are out there. The hypocrites are outed. Let them keep pontificating here...gasbags that they are, they need to. Fast typist my foot.

Somebody above mentioned onefinestay.com as a possible legal rental, but it could be pricier. In my 2 minutes of googling I found out that 50% of the rental fee goes to the agency and 50% to the agency. Sorry that is way too high a premium to pay.

With Onefinestay you only deal with the agency, never with the owner. You pay by cc directly to Onefinestay. The % they pay the owner depends on the situation, time of year etc. As a guest you don't have anything to do with that, you just deal with Onefinestay. You pay more because there's more service than with an Airbnb, and they vet all the properties, taking on only the best.
If there's a problem with the apartment, Onefinestay will make sure you get another one. They are on 24h call, in case of problems.

We use them in London. It's worth the % for us. Our flat in London is nearly always let and they take care of everything.

Sorry everyone! Thought it was a fun travel forum. Not a political arena to place views of personal political views. I withdraw my previous post. So sad as you are obviously super nice people sans arguing on this post.

We are planning a week on Paris next October and were hoping to rent the same apartment we had this year from Paris Autrement. How do I find out if this is legal or not? I don't want to arrive and find I can't get into my accommodation.

There are many people in the media discussing the subject from all angles. Few actually have any real knowledge or insight, but they do have a voice in the media, whether it be in blogs, forums or articles. And all that misinformation distorts the true picture. It is this on which I caution you. If you're going to believe what someone tells you, at least ensure that it's a reputable and trustworthy source who has a real foundation of knowledge on the subject.

This editorial message is a result of reading just such comments and becoming aware of how opinions are formed without much basis in fact. It was also obvious from the many comments we receive that the average individual doesn't understand the basics of short-term rentals in today's world, whether in Paris or just about anywhere in the world.

abnb logoLet's start with Airbnb.com and the phenomena it has caused. In today's world, the average renter no longer 'rents an apartment,' but rents an 'Airbnb' -- much like "Kleenex" became the generic term for "tissues." Airbnb is simply a platform that connects a consumer to a consumer or a landlord with a renter. It is not a rental agency and does not represent or manage those properties advertised on their Web site. The brilliant concept made it absolutely free of charge for anyone to promote the rental of his room or property...until a rental took place and then a commission is paid. It has no responsibility for the property itself and therefore has no responsibility to uphold any rental laws that are applied to the property.

This is also true for VRBO.com (Vacation Rental By Owner), which is exactly the same, except that the landlords pay a set fee to advertise on VRBO, so that there is a financial commitment from the owner of the property which eliminates less serious landlords and properties. Still, VRBO connects consumer with consumer and has no responsibility for the property itself.

There are other sites which advertise rental properties and take a commission when the property is rented, but do not actually represent or manage the property, and therefore the renter is doing business directly with the landlord. Agencies that represent large numbers of properties, say more than 100, are likely to fall into this category, as the management of a property is a very personal and labor-intensive service. Management may include the "meet and greet" of the renter, the housekeeping and the maintenance. It is also a very un-profitable aspect of the business, particularly in France where employment costs run very high.

Parler Paris Apartments
Parler Paris Apartments - La Belle Notre Dame
Lastly there are the "boutique" agencies, such as ours, ParlerParisApartments.com and our partner's Paris-Sharing.com, that hand-pick the properties, take all the bookings and fully manage the properties. The owners are almost always absentee who need the service and the agencies are run to provide a professional service to both the owner and the renter.

When you rent directly from an owner, you take a certain level of risk. Firstly, it does not mean the cost of the rental will be less -- most properties are priced based on what the market can bear, not on the costs of operation! In fact, you could be paying a very high price without much in return if you are not careful.

Paris Sharing paris-sharing.com
Paris Sharing - Le Nodier, View of Sacré Coeur
In addition, (we have a 'saying' in the industry) 'a property is only as good as its owner.' There are good landlords and bad landlords. There are well appointed properties and badly appointed properties. You take your chances and you could win or lose.

With a professionally managed property, you have a much higher chance of getting the quality and service deserving of the rental and should you have any issues, there is someone there to manage the problem (like getting locked out!...a common occurrence).

Some properties advertised on Airbnb, VRBO and the other agencies are, in fact, professionally managed. In the need to compete with Airbnb and the others, the agencies are advertising their properties, not only on their own Web sites, but on the C to C platforms as well. If you prefer to ensure you're 'getting what you pay for' then it would be wise to rent either directly from the professional agencies or to ensure that the property promoted on Airbnb or VRBO is one, too.

To be perfectly clear in regard to the rental laws in Paris: NONE of the agencies have any responsibility to uphold these rental laws -- only the owners of these properties do. It is for this reason the business not only continues, but prospers.

The fact of the matter is that people need accommodations and landlords need revenue to maintain their properties. These two facts will not change, regardless of how the city housing department wants to punish those who attempt it. And fortunately, as per the news we recently had, there "Is Light at the End of the Short-Term Rental Tunnel."

You can try to rent the same apartment if you want to. No agency will stop you, and no owner or manager will stop you either, because all they are interested in is the rental fee.

There is a risk that the other residents in the building have reported an illegal short term rental, and there is also a risk that the co-propriete (condo association) has forbidden vacation rentals.

If someone from the Mayor's office or the co-propriete decides to enforce the law or the building's regulations, there is a risk that your apartment will become suddenly unavailable. You might be given any number of reasons for this, such emergency repairs, etc.

If this happens, you will have to deal with trying to find another place to stay and arrange for a refund. If you deal with an agency or owner who lists multiple properties, it is possible that they might try to relocate you, but you would not be able to choose the location or amenities you paid for. If you are travelling with children, the elderly or have special requests (such as elevators, separate beds, extra bathrooms), they would not be guaranteed.

Exactly Tulips,it is a risk every time I have rented and know it but hopefully by my next return there will be a solution to this problem. I do think the article is relevant.

I have been renting homes and apartments for many years. I am not a huge fan of airbnb due to communication problems but have used many other agencies, flipkey, daft.ie, Vacationinparis etc. So far all has been near perfect. I give you Adrian Leed's newsletters because she is in the fight and does present the other side.

Those in question have discredited themselves. They post so often, so much, on so many public forums, they have no doubt forgotten just how much personal information they have given everyone. Sometimes, it hasn't added up in the first place and/or is not necessarily accurate at all.

Until some years ago, I contributed regularly to these forums and was "quoted" in a dozen or more tour guides.

pariswat, I've contributed to this forum for many years and it could not be more evident that I am not a "lurker".

I am "well aware of what happens" because I've been following many travel forums for many years.

And, there is absolutely no reason, fuzzbucket, to "include yourself in your own statement".

As mentioned, the individuals in question, if anyone is familiar with all their "contributions" to various travel forums, their "hypocrisy" could not be more obvious, along with highly questionable accuracy.

How presumptuous of you, pariswat, to state that HappyGoin and I are "friends". But, I do support and agree with the comments.

I can "stay on TA", whereas both of you are no longer welcome.

Rarely do I participate in this forum these days because it's just no longer worth the bother.

Djk
Keep less track of old info it will help you have more friends.
A lurker is somebody reading a forum but not posting regardless of what he has contributed in the past.
I saw 2 posts of you since I have been kicked out of TA.
One to spit some venom on old acquaintances.